Sheets appeared in Elkhart Circuit Court Thursday afternoon for an initial hearing on the charges. Judge Terry Shewmaker read the charges to Sheets and entered a preliminary plea of not guilty. Sheets faces up to 68 years in prison on both charges.

Sheets told the court he hired Gary Griner as his attorney.

Sheets, 26, of 2801 Toledo Road, Apt. 1517, was home during an altercation between Bark, 24, and his girlfriend. Sheets told police he grabbed a handgun while Bark grabbed a shotgun and they both pointed the weapons at each other telling the other to drop their guns. Sheets shot at Bark five times, hitting him twice.

Police were called to the apartment at about 1:30 a.m. Bark was taken to Memorial Hospital in South Bend, where he died shortly afterward.

Sheets claimed to be defending Bark’s girlfriend and himself, though he admitted he could have left the residence during the altercation and he could have called 911.

Sheets’s trial status conference is on Aug. 29. His trial is scheduled for Sept. 9.